McCarthy: Shields will do 'on-field work'
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy spoke with media for about for a little more than five minutes Wednesday. Here are some highlights.
On Sam Shields’ health status (concussion): Sam had a really good workout yesterday. I think he’s going to do some on-field work today. He still hasn’t’ passed all the way through protocol.
On whether he knows any player who won’t be able to practice today: Davante Adams won’t do any on-field work today.
On David Bakhtiari’s status (ankle): David is going to work today. We’ll see how he comes out of the work.
On familiarity between teams: I don’t think either team thinks they’re going to fool one another. This is going to be a football game that comes down to fundamentals. They won in a decisive manner last game.
On how McCarthy wants team to view the last game in Arizona: We watched the tape. We identified it the day after the game, but that’s part of our preparation because really that’s the best video. Any time you line up next to each other, and frankly that game was out of hand by the end of the third quarter. You try not to repeat what happened.
On need for secondary to make big plays: Getting takeaways, there’s really two parts of it. One, you have to get yourself in position, through anticipation and ability to get your hands on the ball. As a whole, I think our secondary has done a very good job of that this season. Now, how many we haven’t caught this season, you want to improve that. But a dropped ball for a defender is a lot different than dropped ball by an offensive player. An offensive player has the benefit of anticipation and design to catch the football.
On O line allowing sacks in Arizona: Well, negative plays obviously affect the outcome. Not only did we have negative plays with the protection, but with those turning into touchdowns, that’s something you can’t overcome.
On officials being consistent with penalties in playoffs: I would say the officiating crew is a lot like an offense or defense. You hope they play in playoff games, meaning you don’t play your tendencies. With an officiating crew, it’s a split crew. You have the head man, and his characteristics of what he’s done with his body of work, and the other guys follow his lead. But the information is broken down, and we give that information on Thursdays. Playoff crews are obviously totally different.
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